Posts by Amber Buker

Posts by Amber Buker

Executive office overlooking a city skyline as a massive tsunami approaches, symbolizing the coming wave of CEO retirements and bank succession planning.

A Retirement Tsunami? What CEO Age Signals About Succession

Businessman choosing between a community bank and a national bank, illustrating how business account opening drives deposit growth — a challenge Linker Finance helps solve for community banks.

Why Community Banks Win the Loan But Lose the Deposits

Patrick Slain of Stearns Bank on building a BaaS program over a six-year timeline

A Six-Year Build, Not a Three-Month Win: Patrick Slain of Stearns Bank on the BaaS Long Game

Steve Plunk, former OCC examiner, discussing the Penn Square Bank failure on Travillian Next

The Bank Failure That Sent a Ripple Through American Banking: Steve Plunk’s Lessons from Penn Square

Travillian's Amber Buker with Chris Nichols of SouthState Bank, Cory LeBlanc of Locality Bank, and Siya Vansia of ConnectOne Bank at S&P Global's Community Bankers Conference 2026

Travillian’s Amber Buker Heads to S&P Global’s Community Bankers Conference: Nichols, LeBlanc, and Vansia on Stablecoin, Ownership, and the Talent Stack

Heather Luck, EVP and Chief Financial Officer at Five Star Bank, sits down with Travillian's Amber Buker for an on-location, documentary-style interview filmed inside Five Star Bank.

“We Don’t Carry Any Dead Weight” — Inside Five Star Bank’s Financial Engine with CFO Heather Luck (Part 2)

Michael Rizzo, EVP and Chief Banking Officer at Five Star Bank, sits down with Travillian's Amber Buker for an on-location, documentary-style interview filmed inside Five Star Bank.

“A Sales Organization Masquerading as a Bank” — Inside Five Star Bank’s Culture-First (Part 1)

Mike Lettig and Jackson Brossy of Huntington Bank's Native American Financial Services team discuss the $26 billion federal contracting opportunity in Indian Country with Travillian host Amber Buker.

Banking the Nation: Huntington Bank Executives on the $26B Federal Contracting Opportunity in Indian Country

Jennifer Docherty, Bank on Women, Performance Trust Capital Partners

How Community Banks Can Build Stronger and More Diverse Bank Boards — Jennifer Docherty, Founder of Bank on Women

Ag Loans, Agricultural Loans, Agriculture, BTC Bank, Doug Fish

Record Loans, Shrinking Opportunity: Where Ag Banking Still Works

Pathward bank leadership discussing culture-first talent strategy and innovation with Anthony Sharett, President at Pathward Bank

Culture as a Talent Magnet: How Pathward Earned an 84% Employee Satisfaction Score

Eris swap futures enabling community banks to manage interest rate risk

Democratizing Derivatives: How Exchange-Traded Swap Futures Are Opening Doors for Community Banks

Travillian Next follow-up conversation with Alana Levine at Fintel Connect about how AI influences financial product discovery and ranking behavior.

How AI Is Reshaping Financial Product Discovery: A Follow-Up with Fintel Connect

Building Brotherly Love Ira Robbins and Brent Beardall on Leadership Vulnerability and Fighting for Community Banking

Building Brotherly Love: Ira Robbins and Brent Beardall on Leadership, Vulnerability, and Fighting for Community Banking